Our Business Consulting Team

Jeff Russo is the creator and co-owner of the Pro Fitness Program with his wife of 18 years Stacy Russo. He started in the Fitness Industry in 1986 as a Personal Trainer and then quickly made the shift to the business and sales side of the profession as a Membership Rep, Club Manager and Club Owner. In 1998, he had a vision to change the way that clubs conducted business and developed a mission to help independent club owners to move away from selling just memberships to insisting on providing education, results and knowledge. The Pro Fitness Program came into being, and has since helped over 100 clubs change their entire business model and culture. In the process, they have increased personal training sales dramatically, along with club retention, while providing more challenging and rewarding full time fitness careers. Click here for more info on Jeff's fitness career and pedigree.

Jeff is an outstanding motivational speaker and has been a regular presenter at NEHRSA and Can Fit Pro. He was the Vice Chair on the Board of Directors for the Navigators of Canada from 2009 - 2013, and has utilized his talents as a singer songwriter to produce his own album as well as lead music teams at several churches. In 2010, he wrote and published his first business and lifestyle book "Breaking the Chains of Modern Day Slavery", resulting in numerous speaking engagements. He earned an Honours BA from the University of Toronto and is the proud father of Sydney and Connor. jeffr@profitnessprogram.com416-252-5700

Jennifer Poljacik is not new to the fitness industry. Her experience ranges from Group Exercise, Personal Training, Marketing, Membership Sales and Management. Through her successful leadership, the River Valley Club's Personal Training Department has grown into the number one revenue producing program in New England, earning over 2.2 Million dollars in Personal Training sales with only 2400 members. She is not only a Master Trainer and the Co-owner of The Movement Training Specialist Certification company, MTS, but also the current CEO of the River Valley Club.

Jen is the consumate overachiever who believes that anything is possible if you apply yourself. Learning how to inspire and create a positive change in someone's life is the ultimate goal and challenge for me. My enthusiasm, dedication and motivation is contagious and I refuse to fail at helping people get what they want most. I want to be part of your team's journey as I know I can motivate and inspire them to become the best that they can be. programsgalore@rivervalleyclub.com 603-643-7720 ext 118

Al Tassel has been a health club owner / operator since 1988 and today still owns and operates the only full size health club exclusively for women north of Boston. Along with his current club, he previously owned and operated 3 Gold's Gym franchises which he later converted to an independent brand. His clubs have been comprised of fitness only, multi-purpose and women's only models. He has built clubs from the ground up, purchased existing clubs, converted clubs, sold clubs, relocated clubs and has the badge of honor to prove it (grey beard and wrinkles). He's been in the day to day "fitness trenches" for many years and understands first-hand the challenges faced by independent club owners.

Although his clubs always had a successful track record at selling memberships, that track record was unfortunately matched by years of non-existent personal training revenue. Determined to put an end to years of personal training incompetence, Al turned to the Pro Fitness Program (2012) and has never looked back. His 12,000 square foot women's only club in Woburn MA (Pumps -Real Fitness for Women) was recently named the Pro Fitness Program small "Club of the Year" for the second consecutive year. The club set a Pro Fitness Program small club record with over $900,000 in 1 to 1 personal training. Al also has a degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University.

"My 12,000 square foot women's club did over $900,000 in PT in 2015. If your club did not approach this number, then we need to talk!" Al can be reached at altassel.pfp@gmail.com

MaryBeth Bradley has 31 years of full time experience in the Fitness Industry as a former General Manager of small and large clubs in Colorado and California. As a full time Marketing Coach since 2006, MaryBeth works with over 200 health club clients from around the U.S. including fitness only clubs, personal training studios and large multi sport facilities. She has presented many times at industry conventions including IHRSA, Club Industry East, NEHRSA and other regional associations conferences. MaryBeth is a Certified Personal Trainer since 2006. She has a Masters Degree in Recreation Facilities Management and has taught undergraduate classes at the University of Northern Colorado.

"I joined PFP in 2015 because I truly love helping individual club owners and managers maximize their full potential in our wonderful industry." Born and raised in the Boston area, MaryBeth lives in the foothills outside of Denver and enjoys travel, yoga, hiking, skiing and most outdoor activities! mbbradley1@yahoo.com

Adrian Duyzer is the Director of Technology for the Pro Fitness Program. He has been responsible for the development of our web based PFP Track platform over the last 5 years and continues to provide ongoing support and development. He is also the Director of the Web Division at Factor(e) Design Initiative. As the leader of a team of dedicated technical professionals, his roles range from hands-on development and engineering work to project management, strategy development and consulting.

Adrian graduated from Computer Science - Software Engineering programmer at Mohawk College in 2000. He has over 12 years of professional development and project management experience. When it comes to software development, Adrian values the combination of an amazing user experience with technical robustness, realiabiliy and precision. adrian@factore.ca 905-522-7894 ext 25

Dr. James Manson has focused his career on improving population wellness through health related fitness. He brings to the table and undergraduate degree in Kinesiology, a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology and a PhD in Epidemiology. He has worked as an international health and wellness consultant in North America, Europe and Asia as well as in Toronto Canada as a researcher at the Hospital for Sick Children and the Director of Exercise Physiology at Cleveland Clinic Canada. James is excited to be working with the Pro Fitness Program Team focusing on developing and implementing evidence based assessing tools and training.

James was instrumental in producing our latest assessment software for the iPad that is based on the latest normative data around health related screening. Click here for more information on the industry's leading assessment software used in our PFP organizations.

Anthony Janicas specializes in leading Personal Training Departments to maximize their revenues, by developing the skills of key staff -PT Directors, Fitness Consultants and Personal Trainers, enabling them to reach their full potential. Anthony delivers tremendous results for the clubs he consults for by drawing upon his unique skill-set, academic background and experience working in education. Anthony facilitates transformative training workshops which empower and equip his clients with the skills they need to truly differentiate themselves from the competition and be successful.

As a Senior Business Consultant with Pro Fitness Program, Anthony helps club owners dramatically increase their profit. He has done this for dozens of fitness clubs throughout North America. His work with club systems and staff permanently improves their organizational effectiveness.

In addition to his work with PFP, Anthony also consults for numerous businesses in other sectors to show CEOs how to dramatically increase their profit. His consulting work in other industries involves sales management, marketing, leadership development, project management, and system design.

Previously, Anthony has worked as an expert Strength & Conditioning Specialist and Certified Nutrition Coach, training numerous high profile professional athletes. Anthony also played baseball internationally for the Portuguese National team. He is a former Strength and Conditioning Coach for two OHL (Ontario Hockey League) teams, with many of his players going on to play in the NHL, including 2017 NHL MVP Connor McDavid, as well as Connor Brown and Andrei Burakovsky. In 2011, he authored a book Ultimate Hockey Conditioning, to teach players how to eat and train for professional hockey.

He earned his Honours Bachelor of Kinesiology at McMaster University and a Masters of Education at Canisius College. For three years he taught in the Kinesiology Department at Redeemer University College before moving to work as a Business Consultant for the Pro Fitness Program.